Child on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba Children’s rights in the Caribbean Netherlands Karin Kloosterboer Summary Bonaire St. Eustatius Saba Oranjestad The Bottom Kralendijk 16,541 inhabitants 3,791 inhabitants 1,971 inhabitants 24.5% child* 23.6% child* 17.3% child* 0 10 km * under 20 The Kingdom of the Netherlands comprises four countries: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten. Bonaire, St. Eustatius, Saba have a separate status within the Netherlands. They are called Caribbean Netherlands. Together with the countries of Aruba, Curaçao, and St. Maarten they form the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. Autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Netherlands These countries have there own governments. (1, 2 en 4). Since 2010 these islands are special minicipalities of the Netherlands (3, 5 and 6). Caribbean part of the Kingdom Cuba Haïti Jamaica Puerto Rico 4 Dominican Republic 5 6 Caribbean part of the Kingdom 14 Aruba St. Maarten 1 2 3 2 Curaçao 5 Saba Nicaragua 36Bonaire St. Eustatius Costa Rica Panama Venezuela Guyana Colombia Suriname 2 0 1.000 km Brazil Child on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba Children’s rights in the Caribbean Netherlands Summary Karin Kloosterboer May 2013 Contents Introduction 5 Three islands 7 Survey 11 Results 13 Together is better 21 The UNCRC 25 Child on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba Summary 4 Introduction The Dutch Caribbean islands of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba are home to over 5000 children. They spend their youth in an area of the world that is generally seen as a holiday paradise. Yet these children grow up today in conditions that do not meet the requirements stipulated by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereafter: UNCRC). This unfortunate observation applies to all children’s life situations: family and childrearing, education, health care, safety, recreation, play and leisure time, participation, domestic life and household finance. This is the conclusion reached by a study into the circumstances of children on the three Dutch Caribbean islands.1 The results of this study are described extensively in three separate reports: Kind op Bonaire, Kind op St. Eustatius and Kind op Saba (Dutch only). ‘If I were in charge, I would want to change how certain people think. They think too narrowly. Most people have a goal in life and that’s what they want to achieve. Even if others sometimes tell you that it’s not possible, you will anyway try to achieve your own goal.’ (girl, 16 years, St. Eustatius) The UNCRC obliges the Dutch government to take proper care of children in the Caribbean Netherlands. To care for them as properly as for children in the European Netherlands, to be precise. The standards that apply to children in the European Netherlands in terms of protection, education, health and health care, safety, domestic life and so on, apply equally to children growing up on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. It is not surprising to find that the conditions for children on the islands are inadequate. Experts have been concerned for children growing up there for quite some time already. So far the situation had not been comprehensively surveyed and tested against the UNCRC, however. The political changes that occurred on the islands in 2010 did little to assuage such concerns. The children seemed to drop through the cracks; at any rate, they dropped from view. This summary offers a sketch of the Dutch Caribbean islands and their children, information about the study, and an overview of the results. The full reports of Kind op Bonaire, Kind op St. Eustatius and Kind op Saba contain all the results.2 –––– 1 In this summary, the islands of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba are also referred to as the Caribbean Netherlands or by their acronym, the BES islands. 2 See also www.unicef.nl/koninkrijkskinderen. A Dutch translation of the summary is available. 5 Child on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba Summary 6 Three islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba are tropical islands in the Caribbean Sea, over 7000 kilometers from The Hague. They are also known by such exotic names as Divers Paradise, The Golden Rock and The Unspoiled Queen. Bonaire is located in the southern part of the Caribbean Sea. It lies to the east of Aruba and Curaçao, which form the other Leeward Islands in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. St. Eustatius and Saba are located some 800 kilometers to the north, where they form part of the Windward Islands, along with St. Maarten. Each of the three BES islands has its own characteristics. Bonaire is the largest island, with a surface area of 290 km2, and is the most popular holiday destination. Saba leads the entire Kingdom on two points: as the smallest inhabited island and as home to the highest peak (Mount Scenery, 877 meters high). St. Eustatius stands out for housing the largest oil terminal in the Kingdom after Rotterdam, and accommodating seven different churches. Aside from these tourist did-you-knows, there is of course much more to say about these islands. The Kingdom Since 2010, the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprises four autonomous countries: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten. The islands of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba became a direct part of the Netherlands. They are ‘public entities’, also referred to as special municipalities. To distinguish this part of the Netherlands, the three islands are collectively called the Caribbean Netherlands. For the sake of ease, many people refer to them as the BES islands, after their collective acronym. Until 10 October 2010, the islands were part of the Netherlands Antilles. This country was dissolved on that day. The six islands in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom are former colonies of the Netherlands. The children The Caribbean Netherlands are home to over 5000 children: 4060 on Bonaire, 894 on St. Eustatius and 341 on Saba.3 The children make up about one quarter of the island population. Several nationalities live on the islands, for instance people from the Netherlands, from Curaçao, Aruba and St. Maarten, from Venezuela, Colombia and the Dominican Republic, and on Saba there are many students from the United States. On Bonaire the children mainly speak Dutch and Papiamento, while on St. Eustatius and Saba the main languages are Dutch and English. Spanish is widely spoken on all three islands. The rules The islands’ status as public entities makes it possible for different rules to apply in the Caribbean Netherlands than in their European counterpart. It is rather complex to determine when different rules and legislation may and may not be applied, as discrimination is forbidden. Accordingly, the issue has been and still is the topic of much debate, and the island inhabitants sometimes feel disadvantaged. The relationship between the European and the Caribbean Netherlands is still very much under development, with the definitive determination of the islands’ status scheduled for 2015, five years after the political changes. –––– 3 Figures as of 1 January 2012. 7 Child on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba Summary In 2013, the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights (College voor de Rechten van de Mens) issued its recommendation on the implementation of the UNCRC in the Caribbean Netherlands. The Institute states that the essential minimum level of the rights as stipulated in the convention must be guaranteed as quickly as possible, in both the European Netherlands and the Caribbean Netherlands. While it is permitted to choose for different regulations and hence for unequal treatment, this must be justified in an objective manner, and it may not detract from the minimum standards set out in the UNCRC. In its recommendation, the Institute explicates the assessment framework that should be applied here. The recommendation makes clear that the Dutch government should pursue an equivalent level of protection of children’s rights in both the European and Caribbean Netherlands. To do so it may be necessary, or even preferable, to elaborate a policy domain differently in different parts of the Kingdom – just as long as the children’s rights are ensured. Governance The public entities are comparable to municipalities. An island council consists of elected members, just like a municipal council. The council determines the policy and monitors its implementation. Daily governance is in the hands of the executive council, which consists of the governor (comparable to a mayor) and commissioners (comparable to aldermen). The Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (Dutch acronym: BZK) is the coordinating minister with respect to all that concerns the islands. The various other ministries are responsible for the affairs that concern their own domain. This means that many ministries are involved in matters concerning children. For education, it is the ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), for youth policy it is the ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS), for poverty alleviation it is the ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW), and for safety and combating crime it is the ministry of Security and Justice (V&J). Other ministries are also involved in matters concerning the islands, such as the ministries of Finance, of Economic Affairs, and of Infrastructure and the Environment. The Kingdom Representative is the principal liaison between the Caribbean and the European Netherlands. Culture Culture on a Caribbean island is unlike culture in the European Netherlands. For a start, life is much more of an outdoor affair, and life on a small isolated island will always be different to life in a country that is directly connected to other peoples and countries. The experts that were consulted as part of the study identify various aspects with regard to culture. They point to the legacy of the past, the islanders’ sensitivity with respect to their former overlords, a low self-esteem among the population or even a collective sense of inferiority, and the history of slavery and men’s role therein.